


Can I Call You That?

by naturalblues



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, The Politician's Husband
Genre: Alternate Torchwood(s), Angry Sex, Baby!Fic, F/M, Gift Fic, Journey's End can't happen, Light BDSM, Love, Noah and Rose friendship, Pete's World, Pete's World Torchwood, Ruby being Ruby, conquering each other, family fic, jackie being annoying, labor pains, mickey being a yappy tin dog, post- Doomsday, sense of belonging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 04:09:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7742815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naturalblues/pseuds/naturalblues
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Tyler is in labor, and going through it mostly by herself as she recalls how she and Aiden got to this point. Two people she loves most ask her the two most important questions of her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can I Call You That?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lunaseemoony](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaseemoony/gifts).



> In this universe, what happened in the Politician's Husband happened three years prior, so the kids in this are the same age that they were in the Politician's Husband.

 

There were Torchwood agents all over the house to protect it, everyone on Rose’s team was present, per Pete’s orders, to make sure nothing went wrong. Any Journalist that came about was to be shot on sight. Rose didn’t want another journalist catching her with her knickers around her ankles. She wanted this to be private. 

That whole private thing wasn’t working out so well with all the bodies in the house, all of the noise from Torchwood boots, guns clacking, field knives, rustling of bulletproof vests. The buzz and noise of people speaking on bluetooths, the medic who was using Torchwood tech to double check that she was okay, counting between her contractions, reassuring her in soft tones.

Rose was breathing heavily, shaking her head furiously as Mickey was trying to talk her down from a particularly rough contraction. He wasn’t getting the hint, she didn’t want him to talk, she wanted to concentrate. 

“C’mon babe, it’s gonna be just fine because you’re a fighter and this is a totally normal situation right now, millions of women go through this and you are, well you’re more experienced in lots of other things than most women but babe you are just awesome and you’ll make it through this you got this, and--”

The medic glared at him over Rose’s shoulder, but continued to talk her through his procedure. “I’m going to go ahead and give you an IV, would you like a child-safe painkiller from Erebus, or…?”

“No, no I don’t, I want to do this, I can do this…”

“Babe you’re great, you’re so great, you’re rocking this, you got this all, you rock this all day long, like, no woman’s had a baby as well as you…”

This blended with Noah banging a screwdriver against the fridge, because he didn’t know how to cope with the amount of stress in the room and just needed something to give. Rose could usually understand that, but now it was another goddamned noise. She knew that she was in pain, and Noah looked to her as a comfort, as a rock. As his first real friend he’d ever had. Now she was in the middle of a clamor, having a baby, which he understood on a descriptive level, but experiencing it was another thing entirely. Ruby was yelling at her father on the phone on the other side of the room, but her voice carried over and just made it chaos..

“Babe you should just allow an ambulance--”

“DADDY SHE NEEDS A DOCTOR RIGHT NOW, DADDY RIGHT NOW! MAKE YOUR CAR GO FASTER! I SAW THIS ON TELLY AND THEY ALWAYS HAVE A DOCTOR!!!”

*CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.*

Rose’s jaw began to clench.

* * *

 

_ Two weeks prior _

_ Ruby and Noah came back to the house from their visit with their mother.  _

_ Finally, a visit with Freya. It’d been months of Aiden calling her and telling her that the kids missed her, that it was her weekend, that she was late -- each time with excuses on her end about how hard it was to be President and that Aiden should be more understanding. So many nights of the kids falling asleep waiting for her. It’d gotten to the point where Noah no longer asked -- he was usually upset when he was told he had to go see her. His life was a life of routine, and he’d become so used to her being gone that her popping back for a random weekend felt like an intrusion. _

_ Ruby used to sit at the window waiting for her mother, and it broke Rose’s heart each time she’d have to call her from the window for lunch, then dinner, and then pick her up when she was asleep and carry her to bed. It just wasn’t fair for the kids to have to go through this. Each week was filled with millions of phone calls, and ‘are you sure you’re coming?’s, and each time during the entirety of Rose’s pregnancy, she’d managed to answer ‘yes’ to each one, and yet not follow through. _

_ When Rose had first gotten with Aiden, he was still the Vice President with a rotten and misunderstood past. Freya had had primary custody of the kids, but it hadn’t taken long (maybe a month?) for her to demand that he take primary custody. He’d done so, they’d agreed that she’d have them every weekend. She’d been faithful to that for about six months -- right around the time Rose had fallen pregnant.  _

_ Suddenly her demands were for every other weekend. Fair enough, Rose supposed, because she was busy. But the kids began to complain -- mostly Ruby -- that Freya left them with a sitter and didn’t come home until they were already in bed. It was a source of great stress for Aiden, and he’d sat awake many nights with Rose rubbing his back and trying to talk to him about it. He wanted Freya to continue being there for their children, but he was secretly beginning to wonder if maybe it just wasn’t what was right for the kids.  _

_ Maybe they didn’t need their biological mother, but they definitely needed a mother. _

_ Maybe they already had one.  _

_ As Rose kissed his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his middle, he pressed her hands more firmly against himself, and kept that thought to himself.  _

_ But this night, Ruby was crying her eyes out, and Noah just sat down, looking like he was trying to process something that just wasn’t processable. No panic attack or fit in sight, but it was still best if Rose saw to him. _

_ Aiden ran after Ruby, and Rose gave him her usual high five that meant ‘Tag Team!’ as she went over to help Noah.  _

* * *

 

Jake came in, while Rose was trying to concentrate on her breathing and a little divet in the wall where one of Noah’s model planes had crashed into while the paint was drying. Rose had repainted that wall with Ruby in order to brighten up the kitchen with a bit of a soft yellow. 

Breathe in.  _ Ohhhhmmmm. _

Breathe out.  _ Ohhhhhmmm. _

Jake stood above her but a bit behind, talking over Mickey, who was still rambling on, nervously. Rose’s cell phone began to trill in her mum’s ringtone, on repeat, which was a relief after all of the pings of texts she’d received. 

“Rose, I’ve been advised that Martha is performing a surgery right now and can’t be here to be your attending, but we’ve called your midwife and---”

“Babe, women have babies every single day, I swear, you’re just gonna be fine, I--- wow, babe, is that... did your water break? That’s... that’s kinda gross, babe... but you’re fine, just fine..”

_ Not helping _ , Rose thought in annoyance.

“DAD SHE BROKE SOME WATER! I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU CAN BREAK WATER IT’S LIKE LIQUID STUFF! YOU HAVE TO COME NOW!”

“She didn’t break water, it’s just bloody show from passing the mucus plug,” the medic murmured, helpfully.

“Oh that’s absolutely disgusting, a mucus what?! That’s gross! Babe like your vagina’s had a sneeze?”

Rose’s right eye began to twitch.

*CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG*

“So we’ve called Donna, and she’s almost here, but -- do you want a towel to help sop that up--”

“Miss Tyler, maybe you should change into a hospital gown in order to make things easier?”   
  
Her mother’s ringtone, again.  _ If you like Pina Coladas, and gettin caught in the rain--! _

“Yes sir, yes sir, we’ve scouted the grounds and have snipers A and B covering the road. We see so much as a lost journalist and they’ll be on a milk carton..”

Jesus Christ, in front of the kids?!?!

_ If you like Pina Coladas… _

“DADDY IT WAS SOME MUCUS FROM HER VAGINA.”

Oh, and now Rose was slightly regretful that they’d decided to give Ruby ‘the talk’ via Torchwood Medical. At least she and Noah understood how their bodies worked now, she supposed, but it was still jarring to hear a nine year old go on like that.

*CLANG CLANG CLANG*

“Babe everything’s lookin gross but you’re fine I’m just… christ how are you doing this?!”

_ If you like Pina Coladas... _

Rose finally snapped.

She answered the phone, and unloaded all over her mother.

“STOP IT! RIGHT NOW! STOP CALLING ME SO MUCH! I AM TRYING TO PUSH A PERSON OUT OF MY BODY, AND YOU ARE NOT HELPING!” she hung up, angrily.

The clanging stopped, Noah too surprised that Rose had yelled. She never yelled. Ruby had even stopped talking for a minute, as Jake loaded everyone into the Torchwood SUVs to take them to the Med Unit.

“YEAH THAT WAS ROSE YELLING. SHE WAS REALLY SUPER LOUD WASN’T SHE, I DUNNO WHO SHE WAS TALKING TO.”

Oh good, Ruby brought the phone along.

*PING. PING. PING.*

And Noah brought the damned screwdriver.  _ Awesome. _

* * *

 

Jackie Tyler stared at her cell phone while on the beach with Pete, and raised an eyebrow at it.

In all her life, Rose had never yelled at her mother quite like that. Then again, Jackie had to admit she had been being annoying, and Rose was likely in a highly stressful situation. She had her own baby to take care of, she just needed to trust that Rose could handle this. She’d grown up so much these past three years after finding out that the doors between the Universes were closed. She’d spent so long trying to make it back, but it’d been impossible. Right around that time she’d been forced to work with the Vice President on an intergalactic diplomacy mission and things had apparently gotten interesting.

Jackie had found out from threatening Jake with bodily harm that he’d accidentally walked in on the two the third day of their mission. Jackie had been told that Rose and Aiden hadn’t gotten along, but Jake’s harrowing retelling of walking into Aiden’s office and finding Rose on his lap in his chair.

Jackie was grateful she hadn’t murdered him, Rose did have taste.

She’d fallen in love with a good man, she’d taken to helping him raise his children, she was living with him, having a baby... it wasn’t an ideal situation due to their lack of marriage, but they seemed happy, so no matter where you went, there you were.

“Is she all right?” Pete asked, looking concerned while helping Tony make a sandcastle.

“Oh, she’ll be fine. She just had to learn to yell was all.” Jackie grinned in pride, shoving her phone back in her purse.

* * *

 

Donna had made it there in good time, and Rose was sobbing at this point. She’d held it in for hours, trying to keep it together for Noah and Ruby, and she just couldn’t anymore. Noah, surprisingly, had walked over and sat down right by her side, telling her all about his plane. He didn’t know how to comfort her, it just wasn’t a thing for him -- but he knew that she needed comforting. He didn’t think she needed a hug, or gentle words, just words. He knew that when he was distressed, Rose would talk to him, so he was just returning the favor, and that was one of the millions of reasons Rose loved him so much.

“The C-130J is the newest to the C-130 fleet and will replace aging C-130Es. The C-130J incor-por-ates state-of-the-art technology, which reduces man-power requirements, lowers operating and support costs, and provides life-cycle cost savings over earlier C-130 models. Compared to older C-130s, the J model climbs faster and higher, flies farther at a higher cruise speed, and takes off and lands in a shorter distance. The C-130J-30 is a stretch version, adding 15 feet to the fuselage, increasing usable space in the cargo compartment....” he murmured to her, and she really tried to pay attention, because this meant so much to him. 

The c-130 Hercules was his current favorite airplane, and he was reading out of his current favorite book. He read to her all the time, she’d had him reading medical books, history books, combat books to her. Rose secretly hated to read, but had to read a bunch of manuals for her Torchwood knowledge. It’d turned out to be a good way to spend time with Noah, and he didn’t have as many meltdowns when they read regularly. It’d helped his reading so much that he damn near read like a pro, with the exception of a few words here and there that were technical jargon that even Rose had issue with them sometimes. She was so proud of him she nearly burst at the seams sometimes.

 

“Hey Rosie, how’re those contractions coming?” Donna asked with a soft smile, pulling out her kit. She kept all of her gynecological instruments in a warmer, and Rose loved that.

 

Noah frowned a bit at the interruption, but paused nonetheless. He really hated it when other people got in the way of his time with Rose.

 

“Oh my god,  _ I loooooove them! _ ” Rose said, sarcastically. “Each one of them is like a little  _ party _ in my  _ uterus _ .”

 

Noah, knowing what a uterus was, and the likelihood of a party in one, was lost at that one.

 

“All right, well you’re five cm dilated, we still have a bit before the party really begins,” Donna said calmly, smiling as she finished getting all suited up, of sorts.

 

“What?! Are you kidding?! This baby needs to get out of me right now!”

 

“Hey babe, can I come in? The nurse says I need your permission?” Mickey knocked on the door and Rose looked at Noah.

 

“Tell him no, Noah. I can’t get up, make him leave, please?”

 

Noah got up wordlessly, setting his book down on the chair to save his place. Ruby was outside, standing on a chair and talking to Jake, who was explaining the ingredients in every single one of the vending machine snacks to her. Because Rose was always on such a strict diet to maintain a Torchwood body, she also maintained an even stricter one during her pregnancy to ensure that the baby got absolutely everything it needed. She went without any form of comfort food to make sure that baby got every vitamin and mineral. She used an injection gun to give herself daily injections of a powerful prenatal cocktail, her arms looked like she had a drug addiction. She just wore long sleeved things.

 

As such, she’d discussed her dietary restrictions with the kids at a great length, as she insisted they remain informed of things in case she became unconscious and Aiden wasn’t around to enforce things like her allergies (coconut and soy, caused asphyxia) and her diet for the baby or work. As such, Ruby had taken it severely to heart and had attempted to follow her diet for work to the extreme. She was still too young, but after a pleading conversation with Aiden and Rose, they’d come to a compromise. Ruby had her own Torchwood certified nutritionist, and an app on her new smart phone that ensured that she ate only the right things. Quite persnickety, her. 

 

Rose’s argument that had convinced Aiden had contained the fact that it would be safe with the nutritionist, and the fact that with what Ruby was going through… she deserved to feel in control on  _ something _ , and learning to eat safely was better than her turning toward controlling her eating  _ dangerously _ , by gaining an eating disorder the way Rose had when she was younger and unable to control her mother’s drinking. This way, Ruby was eating plenty of vitamins and calories on the daily, and actually looking a lot healthier than she had in a long time.

 

Rose closed her eyes as she heard Noah’s low tones. He was used to Mickey, so telling him point blank that Rose had said no and then shutting the door against any other sound Micks would make wasn’t much of a problem.

 

He grabbed his book and began to read to her again without being prompted. She was so used to his ways, and she smiled softly at him. 

 

“ The Hercules resembled a larger four-engine brother to the C-123 Provider with a similar wing and cargo ramp layout that evolved from the Chase XCG-20 Avitruc, which in turn, was first designed and flown as a cargo glider in 1947. The Boeing C-97 St…. strat…”

 

Rose leaned over to look at the book, and Noah’s finger was under the word. “Stratofreighter.”

 

He stared up at her shoulder, and she repeated the word slower.

 

“Stratofreighter also had a rear ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane (also possible with forward ramp on a C-124). The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, which included low-altitude extraction for Sheridan tanks and even dropping large improvised "daisy cutter" bombs.”

 

* * *

 

 

_ Aiden was furious. Absolutely furious. He’d already put up with enough of Freya’s bullshit today, but now he’d gotten a text that she ‘couldn’t handle’ the kids and had left them with a sitter they didn’t know. Noah was going to have a meltdown, and Aiden was off planet, getting bitched out by some slip of a girl that just happened to be Pete’s daughter and his ‘partner’. They’d ended up in exactly twelve arguments since they’d first boarded the ship together, and each one was longer and more trying on his nerves.  _

 

_ He was gonna fucking strangle her. That’s what. He’d almost strangled someone once, he could do it again, and if she marched her way back into this office, he was going to-- _

 

_ As if her ears were burning, she’d thrown open his office door as though she belonged, and was in the middle of reading a file. _

 

_ “The Erubians would take total offense at this for a gift, Hoynes, we have to do better’n this, for sure,” she muttered, still not looking at him, and putting the file on the table. _

 

_ Oh he was gonna kill her. Coming into his office he was given as a gift for their diplomacy as though she owned the place… he needed to calm down. He was seeing a therapist to be better for the children, and Dr. Caldicott had been giving him lots of anger management therapy. He knew how to calm down, but this was more than he can take. Too much had happened, he was on another bloody planet in another galaxy, his ex wife was demanding more from their divorce than the bitch deserved, she was calling him all sorts of things, launching accusations and stating she needed extra money because the divorce was causing ‘undue stress’ on her?! She also refused to spend time with their kids, and told Aiden in mediations that the kids reminded her that she had allowed him inside of her body and the thought disgusted her. Now Pete’s daughter was in there, telling him that his hard work would insult this planet’s inhabitants and he was ready to snap. _

 

_ “How the hell could they take offense, it’s some of the Queen’s jewels!” _

 

_ “They don’t like jewelry, they abstain from all material goods--” _

 

_ “Yeah, gee, I noticed that in this gorgeous office, in this highly decorated building!” _

 

_ “Highly decorated, but not like--!” _

 

_ “We’re in a fucking building covered in finery, don’t you try to tell me this isn’t a personal jab--” _

 

_ “All the buildings are highly decorated, which was my point, Hoynes! They abstain from material goods being special! Everyone has them, this is a communal planet and they don’t like people being on different pages. If you’re going to give something that to them is the equivalent of dirt--” _

 

_ “Dirt?!” he snarled, ready to fight her, and ruin all of his hard work in therapy. He’d have to start from scratch. He’d be a disappointment to his father yet again, he’d let down his kids… and yet his mouth kept going. “Do you know how much work I went through to get that ‘dirt’ from the Royal Family?!” _

 

_ “That isn’t my problem!” she snapped in retort, and really, her voice was so irritated that he lost control and lunged for her. _

 

_ But for some reason, instead of choking her (thank god) he had pulled her to him and began kissing her, furiously. Her mouth opened on a gasp and he invaded it instantly. They kissed like a battle, teeth clicking, tongues lashing, and oh, but it was perfect. He’d noticed her so many times, but he was usually so busy that he’d ignored noticing her. She was a Torchwood Agent, one of the Specials, they were called. They went in on Special missions only, ones other people got killed doing. Many Specials got killed, and each time one got killed, they all went in for a new training to try to perfect them. He’d read it all in their file, muscles surgically tightened, bodies nearly broken during physical combat training, all of the weapons they had to gain skill at... _

 

_ Gods, but she was fit. Tight arse, firm breasts, solid muscle under her flat abdomen, soft skin, oh fuck how hadn’t he already tried to bend her over-- what the fuck was he doing?!  _

 

_ This was Pete’s daughter, and he was in the middle of a divorce, for fuck’s sake! _

 

_ He pulled away from her like he’d been burned. She stared at him with lips swollen from their kiss, hair a bit mussed, looking more than a little fuckable.  _

 

_ His anger was dissipating, leaving him tired. He spoke up to her, feeling the need to explain. _

 

_ “I... apologize, Miss Tyler. I was angry, and not thinking properly,” he was singing like a canary here, and that was one thing that Aiden didn’t do. _

 

_ Rose’s eyes were narrowed. Fuck, he was gonna lose Pete as a friend, and that wasn’t good because Pete was basically his only friend he had, but he was working his way to two. He really was, therapy was helping. His anger was almost gone, replaced by self-loathing and feeling hopeless. _

 

_ “You kissed me and damn near dry-humped me because you were ‘angry’?!” Rose asked, incredulously. _

 

_ Ah, so she’d felt the beginnings of the erection. Well, no worry about that, it was going down anyhow-- suddenly, his head snapped to the side from her slap. _

 

_ His hand went to the side of his face and he looked at her in shock and a bit of betrayal. _

 

_ “That make you mad then? Or this? This? This?!” she shoved him backwards, once, twice, three times until he slammed into a bookcase. “How about this?” she started poking him in the chest. _

 

_ He grit his teeth against his annoyance. What the fuck was she doing?!  _

 

_ “Yes, yes it does, are you trying to start a fight?!” _

 

_ If he physically fought Pete’s daughter, he’d definitely be down the only friend. _

 

_ “Good,” she breathed, giving him a sultry stare as she grabbed him by the tie and kissed him again, deeply. She hopped up onto him, her legs wrapping around his waist, and he shuffled to make his arms support her, one handful of soft blonde hair and the other of tight arse and fuck this was paradise, he was sure of it. _

 

_ Ah, she hadn’t done it to fight him, she… she wanted him, and that fact blew Aiden’s mind. He’d been lucky to snag Freya, women had tended to give him a pretty wide berth due to his overly competitive nature and his lack of desire for people to get to know him. Now, after all of the things that’d happened in the past year, the thought of any woman wanting him was the farthest thing from his and most of their minds. Rose was twenty three, gorgeous, and kissing him right now, and if he didn’t want to offend her, he was going to kiss back. _

 

_ Who needed friendship anyhow? _

 

_ He kissed back for all he was worth, and then let out an embarrassing grunt into her mouth as her hand reached between them and cupped him through his slacks, massaging him and making his eyes roll back into his head. She was being so forward, taking the lead more than he’d ever experienced. No one had wanted him like that, and the feeling was quite good for his self esteem, if he’d had the ability to think that far. They continued moving as he checked all of her teeth, walking together a few feet and slamming into whatever was near, be it the china hutch, the wall, the window. Her fingernails had become claws, raking up his arms and through the back of his blazer, yanking his hair and making him thrust against her body, needing to be inside of her.  _

 

_ He was angry, angrier than he’d been in his life and he wanted to leave all of that anger between her thighs. Fuck, she wanted it, too, she was inserting herself into it. He was angry that his life was fucked up, his career was a waste, his kids were stuck in between the shredded pieces of his life. He was angry with his mistakes, he hated his ex wife, his father’s death and disappointment in the way he’d turned out, the fact that he feared he would never connect with his son the way he and his father had… he was angry at everything that’d been destroyed, and angry that he only had one friend. But there was a balm to make it feel better, oh yes, right in front of him. _

 

_ The thought of fucking her against a window where everyone could see made him hard as a rock, but it obviously wasn’t what she was after. She was panting, her jacket on the ground, vest top off, bottoms undone -- when had he removed those?! -- and was struggling to untie her boots. She bit him on the shoulder, keeping him going as he hissed at her, shoving her back and starting to undo his tie. He would have her, he’d have her every way he wanted her, too.  _

 

_ He would have something that couldn’t be taken from him, even if it was just this experience. The memories, before she wised up enough to regret this. _

 

_ “Don’t.” _

 

_ Her voice cut the silence that only heavy breathing had invaded. _

 

_ “I think it’s sexy,” she whispered, with a playful smile. A woman playfully smiling at him. Anyone smiling at him. _

 

_ If Rose Tyler thought he was sexy fully dressed, then fine. He’d dress up like anything she wanted, in these moments. Full businesswear, dress up like a cowboy, dress up like a snake. Didn’t matter, he’d do it. _

 

_ Best never to tell her that. _

 

_ “Do you wanna box?” Rose teased, his tongue in teeth smile driving him crazy. She unwrapped herself from him to try to finish taking off her clothes, but he was impatient. She was in a very plain white sports bra that was double enforced to keep the girls in line, as it were, and a plain pair of white panties. She was at work, no need for lingerie when your job was kicking ass.  _

 

_ But Aiden had never seen anything so sexy in his life.  _

 

_ She suddenly shoved at him again, beginning to physically fight him. She could see his anger waning and didn’t want that. She wanted a furious fuck, and she was going to get it.  _

 

_ “Stop thinking!” she hissed in his ear, repeatedly, her nails on his scalp. “Stop thinking about anyone but me.” _

 

_ His mouth went straight to hers after she slapped at him again, biting on her lip and demanding entrance. The way her back arched into him, his hands going behind her back and undoing her bra with a lot less finesse than he’d hoped for, every sensation was more than his mind could properly catalogue. Stop thinking, she wanted him to stop thinking, but he couldn’t. He hadn’t been with anyone but his wife in almost two decades, and their sex life had never been that adventurous, or that common. But her firm breasts, nipples puckered… she was gorgeous. _

 

_ He started suckling one nipple while pinching and tweaking the other, drinking in the sounds of her moans and biting and kissing along her breast. He left a few hickeys to mark her as his own before he switched to the other one, feeling her grind her hips against his thigh. The heat of her was easily felt through his slacks, and it made him throw all of his papers to the floor just to maul her on the desk. He was trying to remove her bottoms, getting annoyed by only getting her leg out of one before deciding that that was plenty enough to get where he needed to go.  _

 

_ She had so much skin showing, eyes hooded and she made a noise of slight pain as he nearly ripped her underwear off, but a quick look to her face showed she was still ready for him. He hurried, the throbbing of his groin nearly killing him, beginning to unzip his slacks and free himself. He was panting, she whimpered a bit, and he took a moment to truly look her over. She was perfect, and he didn’t deserve any of this comfort, but he would take it. He buried himself inside of her with a curse, allowing all of his feelings to fuel this, slamming his hips back and forth into her with a much quicker rhythm than he’d ever thought he could manage. It was only one or two awkward thrusts before he found a quick rhythm that was just what he needed. _

 

_ She was biting her lip, sounds muted, and that made him stop his hips. Oh no, she didn’t. Not with everything he was losing from this. Her whine from him stopping made him smirk. _

 

_ “Don’t silence those sounds. I want to hear all of you,” he growled in her ear, feeling her shiver and tighten her muscles. Oh, she liked that. He’d give her everything she liked. _

 

_ He gave an experimental thrust that quickly worked its way to brutal, his fingers leaving bruises on her hips as he held her down and heard her loud cries in his ear. If he’d been thinking, he’d not have asked her to do that. Other people could possibly hear, but he didn’t care. It was after hours, surely no one was about, right? _

 

_ He was slamming into her with everything he had, only slowing his movements to lean down and take her nipple into his mouth again, rolling his hips to hit every space he could. She whimpered, then used those impressive abs to thrust against him, working into a fast rhythm that he couldn’t help but meet. She was delicious, how had he lived without her?  _

 

_ She was damn near sobbing out her pleasure, and her nails dug into the nape of his neck and drawing blood. He double checked her face when she’d initially made the noise, making certain she was actually enjoying this, even with the popping noise as her hips met his. She was, and with a few swirls of his hips, she was enjoying it even more. He felt himself getting close and moved his hand downward, working her clit in as close to a pattern as his hips moved as he could manage. _

 

_ “Fuck, oh fuck, Aiden, please!” she cried, begging him, making him work harder.  _

 

_ “Say that again.” he growled, and she clenched her inner muscles tighter in response. He kept that filed away, her reaction to his gravelly voice. He’d need that. But the noise she made showed him just where to hit. _

 

_ He lifted her hips a bit, thrusting just right and heard her scream his name, felt her orgasm pull at the tightening in his abdomen. He slammed into her a few more times, seeking his own completion and looking her in the eyes as he found it. _

 

_ It was the most intimate moment of his entire life. He lost part of his soul into those cognac orbs. _

 

_ Afterward should’ve been awkward. There should’ve been regret, and hush hush, and not telling, and not being able to work together.  _

 

_ Instead they’d ended up both laying on their backs on his desk, legs hanging off the side, laughing with each other as they looked up at the clear glass ceiling, at the three red suns.  _

 

_ “You said wha’?” _

 

_ “I literally did, and to the French Ambassador, mind!” _

 

_ She was laughing, shaking her head at him. “I have a hard time imagining you getting nervous. I mean, it’s you!” _

 

_ He raised an eyebrow at this, looking at her. “Oh?” _

 

_ “You’re always so composed. I wish I was composed.” _

 

_ “You’re young. You’re not born with composure. You’re… very young, actually.” He was moving to get up, cursing himself internally. This was a mistake, it was all a mistake, he was going to-- _

 

_ “Don’t you dare!” she pleaded with him, pinning him in place with a wounded look. Her tears were already rolling, and he desperately wanted to fix it. “Don’t you find an excuse to make this wrong. Don’t find an excuse to make this ugly between us.” _

 

_ He should talk her down, apologize, try to smooth things over while putting boundaries around their relationship, firm ones. He should do the right thing, try to salvage a friendship with Pete, lest she tell him. _

 

_ Instead he took her into his arms, to comfort her and listen to her, and ended up with her riding him on his lap in his chair. She seemed to have an obsession with him in his business suit, in a position of power, and her nudity. Seemed to love his desk, too, and she could have whatever she wanted if she kept fucking him like this. Her hair flipped as she threw her head back, hips rolling and back arched so perfectly. He held onto her hips, darkening the bruises that he’d put there, pleasing the darker part of him. She was his, all his. She just didn’t know it yet. But she would.  _

 

_ Unfortunately, before they could cement any form of a relationship, her Commander, Jake, had walked in on them, claiming he’d thought her cries were of pain. _

 

_ Liar. Jealous liar. _

 

_ The talk with Pete afterward had been uncomfortable, but he was a reasonable man. He accepted that his daughter was an adult who made her own choices, surprising Aiden. If it were him in Pete’s place, he’d want to kill the bloke. Jackie’s reaction of trying to gut him was far more expected. _

 

* * *

 

 

The water gushing from between her legs was fucking awful and awkward, and more gushed out with the next few contractions. Noah had left the room, not that she’d blamed him. The stress was too much, and she was grateful for Donna sending him on his way. That little boy was her best friend, though, and he’d taken to the news he’d gotten two weeks ago that his mother was relinquishing all parental rights to him and his sister remarkably well. He’d been upset and had had multiple meltdowns that weekend just from being forced to spend time with Freya, when he was so unused to her. He’d only spent about a half hour with her, to be honest, at the very end. They’d been put with some new babysitter that they didn’t know, until that one switched out for another new one, and then another. All of the new people had been too much, and then his mother sat down for a final dinner with them and explained what she was doing.

 

Ruby had naturally asked what that’d meant, and Freya had explained it to them like it was some business transaction. Then, clarifying, she’d added that it meant that she wasn’t their mummy anymore, so they needed to stay with their daddy forever. 

 

While that was hard enough for Ruby to understand, for Noah it’d been like another language. Rose had spent a few hours in there with him, trying to talk him through it. She’d expected a total meltdown, but he’d taken it mostly in stride, so she’d explained it more and more until she realized… he understood. He just wasn’t nearly as bothered by it as he should be. He merely didn’t like the concept of being thrown away by someone, even though he didn’t care about the person. Even though he didn’t feel things the same as she would, he just told her that he was relieved that he didn’t have to go back. She knew he had his routines, and his obsessions, and his rituals, but… Ruby was upstairs crying her eyes out.

 

She mulled over that in between contractions until Aiden finally burst into the room, and her first words to him were a snarled, “Where have you been?!” instead of anything to do with love and need.

 

He shook his head, instantly coming to her side and taking her hand. Running fingers through her hair, he kissed her forehead and murmured sweet nothings into her hair. She was a warrior, taking this on with both of the kids and him having to fly there from the US. Ruby had been giving him the highlights for most of the zeppelin ride, and his daughter could really talk someone’s ear off. She’d become even more obsessed with spending time talking to him since that stint with her mother, and Aiden had agreed to give her everything - the house, a large sum of money, and the car -- provided she was serious about this choice to leave the kids. 

 

She was.

 

He just didn’t want to put the kids through worse, even though he’d called and bitched her out about it. She’d rolled her eyes through the conversation, it was obvious through the phone, but the past two weeks had been peaceful. 

 

Rose was fully dilated, and already pushing. Donna and Aiden both encouraged her, Donna telling her to push and how close the baby was, and Aiden allowing her to damn near break his hand as she pushed. She was in a lot of pain, it was her first child, but between the sweat making her hair stick to her forehead and her teeth grit with each push, he committed her to memory. She’d continued working out and doing kegels and everything necessary to keep herself strong. She’d wanted this to be easy, but she was used to a different sort of pain entirely. She wasn’t complaining, though, not his Rose. 

 

As she did this, he remembered every time they’d spent together, dancing with her, playing cards and the way she laughed, them watching a political tv show and him critiquing it in annoyance (although she did the same thing when they watched fighting/government agent films). Midnight coffee, her and Ruby having adventures making some sort of dark chocolate fondue to go with their fruit. Coming in and seeing Rose and Noah underneath a plane, under Jake’s tutelage, helping to fix it via their favorite tutorial books. Rose and Noah getting into deep discussions about the way field tactics should look, and Rose drawing a picture of it and Noah disagreeing…. She’d brought him out of his shell in ways Aiden had never seen.

 

“You can do this. We’re so close to meeting our son,” he spoke those words against her temple, and she nodded as tears went down her face. They were close.

 

* * *

 

 

_ “Are you out of your mind? Am I just supposed to give up my job?!” _

 

_ He shook his head at her instant heckles, expecting them. This was the fourth row about this.  _

 

_ “Your job is very dangerous, what am I supposed to tell the kids if you die on a mission?” _

 

_ Her jaw twitched. “Oh? So I can be there to constantly babysit for you, is that it? Your job is dangerous too, and you work long hours, and we never see you, but who gives a fuck, right? I’d better give up my job so you can have your career?!” _

 

_ This was an unexpected turn in the conversation.  _

 

_ “My job is dangerous, yes, but nowhere near the level yours is.” _

 

_ “Oh, that’s a laugh!” _

 

_ “Is it? Am I the one in hand-to-hand combat on the daily? Do I come home covered in bruises and lacerations? Every time you have a mission I get a call from a medic.” _

 

_ “So sorry to inconvenience you, but you knew what you were getting into--” _

 

_ “It’s different with children, Rose.” _

 

_ “Oh, now you’re some sage father, trying to talk down to me because I’m young--” _

 

_ He began to use his therapy, trying to make things a bit less tense. “I truly feel that the children would rather you be home more often. You moved in, you’ve taken this on--” _

 

_ “You’re gone all the time, how the hell would you know?! I still make it work--” _

 

_ “How will I explain to Ruby that her favorite shopping partner is dead? How will I tell Noah that his best friend is never coming back?” _

 

_ At Ruby, Rose’s heckles were up higher, but at Noah… Rose was defeated.  _

 

_ Noah had made so much progress due to her, and he still often came home late to find Noah, unable to sleep, reading tactical books to Rose while she hung upside down from a bar below the door and took her gun apart and put it back together. _

 

_ “I already took a new position, I’m working as a mechanic for the planes and jeeps until… until...” _

 

_ Aiden looked confused. He hadn’t heard anything about a mechanic  position. “Until?” _

 

_ “Until the baby is born…” her eyes were closed, as though she was expecting the worst. She’d grown up in the Estates, men ran from babies like no other. _

 

_ “Really?” his voice was soft, and it made her open her eyes. _

 

_ His hand was already on her stomach, looking at it in wonder. She had a small showing there, only noticeable due to how her stomach usually looked. “That’s my child in there? You’re certain?” _

 

_ She knew he didn’t mean was she sure it was his, he was just verifying the pregnancy. She’d nodded, and been pulled into his embrace.  _

 

_ “I just need help, Aiden,” her eyes watered a bit, her mouth trembling. _

 

_ “Anything. Anything that you need. I’ve done this before,” he nodded, already doing the planning in his head, she could tell. _

 

_ “I need you around more. I need you here, the kids need you here, I can’t do this alone. I’m terrified.” _

 

_ He’d agreed to nothing, but had ended up stepping down from his position a month later, once he’d finished all of his projects he’d found most important. Freya had made plenty of barbed comments at him, but taking a position that had allowed him to actually come home at night had been worth it. Turned out that his friendship with Pete and subsequent friendships with a couple of other Torchwood higher ups had come in quite handy, as they’d given him a job dealing with the political end of the alien spectrum. _

 

_ Every once in a while, he would have to go to another place for a few days, but now he was at an actual 9 to 5 position, and he came home every night for dinner, and spent breakfast with them, and even spent lunch with them once a week at a cafe near work.  _

 

_ He became even more amorous now that she was pregnant, now that it’d become so obvious that he’d won. She was completely his, she was carrying his child, and he took her as often as she’d let him. Bent over the kitchen table, in their bed, against the wall, in the back of the car, in a back room at a gala, it didn’t matter. He was ravenous for her. _

 

_ His life had come together so well, so unexpectedly. Just two years ago he was miserable, in a fake marriage with his wife, and they both hated each other. Unable to communicate with his son, having just lost his father, struggling with his actions. _

 

_ Now he had a woman he loved, who loved him in return. A woman who loved his kids, a woman carrying his child, one who put in the hard work with no complaints, one who made him realize that his supposedly solid marriage had been built on lies and niceties. His marriage had been crumbling since the day they’d said ‘I do’. _

 

_ His father would have loved Rose. _

 

_ He should go ring shopping. _

* * *

 

 

The sound of a baby screaming made Rose sob openly, her face red and her hair matted to the sides of her head.

 

“Aiden, how is he?” she whimpered, unable to see well through the saline in her eyes. She’d cried on his shoulder multiple times during her pregnancy, terrified that due to all of her travels, and the time vortex, and her fighting until she’d realized she was pregnant at four months that there’d be something wrong with him.

 

“It’s a beet root,” Donna muttered affectionately.

 

“Ten fingers, ten toes, all perfect. Rose, he’s beautiful,” Aiden brought him right over to her once the cord was cut. He laid their son on her bare chest, just like they’d discussed, without cleaning him off first.

 

The bonding was immediate, and he smiled as he watched Rose turn into a puddle in front of their son, just like he’d known she would.

 

“You tried to kill me,” she squeaked at the infant, smiling through it all. “You nearly ripped mummy in half.”

 

Aiden laughed a bit, surprised to feel tears going down his cheeks. This was happiness, right here. This was their family.

 

He took her hand away from their son for only a moment, just long enough to slide a ring on her finger. He’d wanted it to be big and beautiful, but that just wasn’t Rose. Her ring was a rose gold band with vintage style pink pave diamonds. It was perfect to not get in her way at work or catch on anything. It was smaller, it was pink, and it just looked like her. She looked up at him with a face so filled with emotion, and he smiled at her, softly. He didn’t need to say anything.

 

She sobbed again, and nodded at him, barely making out the word ‘Yes’ before he pressed his mouth against hers. Donna was sniffling a bit in the corner.

 

After about twenty more minutes, the kids were allowed in, and Noah instantly went to Rose’s side, staring at the blood and the like that was being cleaned off her by Donna. The baby had had his first bath, and was laying on Aiden’s bare chest, bonding with him the same way they’d discussed. This was such an important moment, and he wanted to do this for all of the rest of their children. He’d discuss it with Rose later, of course, but he wanted so many children with her. As many as she would agree to.

 

Ruby instantly went over and started cooing at the baby, asking her father a billion questions. He had to ask her a few times to use a quieter voice, but the baby was out, exhausted after his journey into the world. Noah was more concerned with how Rose was coping -- his hero was in a hospital, and had blood on her, and he didn’t want her  _ hurt _ .

 

She smiled at Noah, giving him an air five that she always gave him, calling it their ‘long distance high five’. She was always so respectful of his comfort levels.

 

“Do you want to see the baby?”

 

“You’re hurt. He hurt you.”

 

“Nothing worse than I see in the field. I’m all right. It was worth it, yeah? You have a baby brother.”

 

Noah nodded a bit, then looked away. Rose realized he wanted to distance himself from the boy, and she couldn’t have that. She needed to make him claim him.

 

“Noah, will you help me?”

 

He instantly looked up, ready to do whatever she needed.

 

“I can’t come up with a name for him. Can you?”

 

“You want me to name him? But, I ca--” he stopped himself from saying her least favorite phrase. She was always telling him he could do anything.

 

“Noah. Please.”

 

He considered it for a few moments, then looked toward Ruby. 

 

“You always read to us. You make us food, you tuck us in, you come to school.”

 

She didn’t know where he was going with this, but she was listening as always, happy that Donna had finally finished cleaning her up.

 

“Mums do stuff like that.”

 

She tilted her head, seeing Aiden look up at them out of her peripheral.

 

“Yes they do, I suppose…” Rose murmured.

 

“Are you our mum?” Noah asked, biting his lip as though uncertain of what he’d just sussed out.

 

“Would you like me to be?” Rose asked, because she needed to ask, but God, these were her kids, she felt it in her soul.

 

“Yes.” Ruby chirped from Aiden’s side, not even paying the baby mind anymore. “You’re already our mummy, and our birth mummy just signed paperwork saying that she didn’t wanna be anymore, so I figure that makes it more so!”

 

Noah nodded at that, murmuring his own assent.

 

She glanced at Aiden, and the look on his face was the cat that had eaten a canary. That smug bastard, when she was well, they were gonna revisit this.

 

“Can I call you mummy?” Ruby asked.

 

“Of course, because I’m your mummy.”

 

“How long will you be our mummy?” Noah asked, barely meeting her eyes before looking askance. After Freya’s betrayal, of course he felt being a mum had a time limit.

 

“Forever.” 

 

A word so important to her, she’d explain it one day, she was certain.

 

“Cole.”

 

“What was that?” 

 

Coal? How was a piece of coal a response to that?

 

“The first book you and I ever read was Civil War Artillery at Gettysberg, by Phillip M. Cole.”

 

“You like the name Cole?”

 

He nodded a bit, and then looked uncertain. She wouldn’t allow him to be unsure.

 

“I like it. Cole Joseph Hoynes.”

 

Aiden closed his eyes at that, loving it. He breathed in the sweet smell of his son’s hair, and looked at his family.

 

Sure, they still needed to bring the baby home, get used to him, draw up adoption papers, deal with the wedding… but that would all happen later. They were together now, they were on the same page, and this was the most beautiful moment of Aiden’s life.

 

“I love you,” he finally spoke the words against his fiance’s temple, the words he’d been scared to say out loud. Her watery smile was answer enough -- she’d already long since said them.

 

_ My Family. _


End file.
